The Dragon's Path
by Kithrin
Summary: An experiment, a avenger, and the repercussions of their meeting. Watch as a mistake by one of the greatest missing nins makes an impact that has the potential to ruin all his plans. Story dead until more support is given.
1. Prologue: Enter the dragon?

The Dragon's Path

Prologue: Enter the dragon?

AN: this starts in Final Fantasy VII world, but it is only at the start of this chapter, and the world will not appear again, although some aspects might.

A single pebble may cause ripples, that can become waves, and alter the path of destiny for a body of water. A magic stone can have the same effect, but on a much greater scale. A single stone may alter the path of a mighty river, but a stone made of crystallized life force may alter the path of destiny itself.

* * *

It was a stormy night, the type of night that nobody wants to be out in unless they had to. Lightning was flashing through the sky with disturbing regularity, and in this storm three figures were standing against a large white monster. The monster was a weapon made by the very planet for its defense.

The three figures were a buxom brunette who was named Tifa, a foul mouth large black man with a gun instead of a hand who was named Barret, and lastly the leader Cloud, who was a blond swordsman wielding a huge sword. The three had been fighting the weapon for quite some time.

Cloud in a command decision tried to end the fight quickly, raised his armlet, and activated a red materia, and after feeling a good chunk of his mystical energy get consumed, a steel gray dragon appeared from a hole in reality.

The dragon dived down through the clouds, and started to hover in front of the white weapon and started to charge up its attack as the materia commanded it to when, out of nowhere a lance of blue energy came from a huge cannon mounted in a extremely large city nearby. The lance of energy nicked the dragon, and continued on to spear the monster before heading on to hit, and dispel, a forcefield nearly a half a world away. The shockwave from the dragons roar of pain, combined with the surprise of the shot caused the blond swordsman to fall, and in a spectacular moment of bad luck, hit his bracelet on a nearby stone, which caused the stone which was used to summon the dragon god, Bahamut, and the summon, deprived of the force that brought it there, was sent back to where it belonged, most of him at least. A small amount of his blood from his opened wound fell through the cracks in the dimensions.

* * *

In another place, in an underground laboratory, A missing nin with snakelike features had just finished strapping a nine year old girl to an experiment table, the girl was fit, nude, had cream colored skin, and crimson hair, and was about to inject her with a special formula, when a small black crack appeared in midair right in front of him, causing him to drop the glass syringe which shattered on the ground.

From the crack came a small amount of blood which hit her chest and pooled there. Orochimaru quickly collected what he could, as its mysterious appearance intrigued him.

The next two weeks were filled with research on the blood. He quickly determined that it had come from something exceedingly powerful, perhaps more powerful than the nine tailed fox that had attacked the leaf village. After countless hours of experimentation he finally created two syringes which theoretically had the potential to grant those it was injected into great power, and long life.

Kabuto's two weeks on the other hand was spent taking care of the research subject, as he was on vacation from his Konohagakure ninja duties. He spent his time feeding his master, the experimental subject, and himself, cleaning the subject, watering her, and keeping her sedated so he wouldn't have to listen to her screaming and crying.

One day before he had to leave and return to the village, Orochimaru came in to the room which contained both the girl and his right hand man, with his two syringes on a cart. Normally he would've just carried them, but in this case, as he didn't have anymore of the blood he used for the synthesis of the serum, he was taking few chances. The girl was awake at this point as Orochimaru didn't want his experiment ruined by extra drugs in the victims bloodstream. With a sadistic smile the snake sanin grabbed her head and injected one of the syringes into a vein in her neck. Suddenly a small shockwave from the girl in front of him sent both of the males in the stumbling back. Unfortunately for Orochimaru he had stumbled back into the cart that was behind him, and knocked it, as well as the other glass syringe to the ground, shattering it.

The girl screamed in agony and strained against her restraints for nearly five minutes when suddenly, she slumped down with her eyes half opened and glassy.

Kabuto shook his head after he had hit the wall moved to her side and took her pulse. He looked at his master as he got up, and shook his head.

Orochimaru frowned and said, "Unstrap her, then go back to your regular duties, I'll send someone to dispose of the body later." He then walked out of the room.

"Yes sir," the other man said mas he did what he was told. He walked out of the room himself, and turned off the lights. Which was a pity, since if had looked closer he would've noticed that her hair had begun to darken. An hour later she had started breathing again and her eyes closed and she drifted into a peaceful sleep as her body began to change in more extreme ways. Nearly twenty-four hours later she woke up, and thinking it was just a dream put her hand to her face, she then felt something wrong with how the contact between her hand and face felt. Stifling a scream she made her way to the thin bar of light that indicated the underside of a door, and slipped on a liquid film causing her to go dead first into the door. Holding back tears, knowing that if she was found by the person who gave her the injection it would be bad, she fumbled around the edges for a light switch. She turned it on, not realizing that she could see almost perfectly in the small amount of light from under the door. Looking around the room she saw a large mirror, that unknown to her was used so that actual volunteers could see the results. She started hyperventilating when she saw what she looked like. Her hair had darkened to a storm gray, and small crimson scales had sprouted over her body. The largest sized scale was the size of a dime, and was mostly on the parts of her body that don't move, such as the forearms, upper arms, thighs, and lower legs. Most of the scales however were a centimeter across. Her face was pretty much clear of scales, eyes had become emerald and slitted like a reptiles, her nails has turned into small claws, and lastly she had developed small fangs. Other than those changes she retained the same shape as before, at least until she noticed her draconic wings, when she did she instinctively flexed her will causing them to vanish. When they did, she said dejectedly to herself, "I'm a freak, a monster." She felt a small drain on her reserves when she made the wings disappear. Slightly less panicked, she searched for clothes, and she found some. Taking the black all encompassing cloak that was way too large for her she used a scalpel to cut it down so she wouldn't be dragging it badly, and used bandages to wrap up and hide her arms and to improvise a foot covering, although she had a feeling that she didn't need it anymore. She also found her clothes from when she was kidnapped, and put them on. Slipping on the cloak, and moving quietly she managed to get out of the seemingly abandoned base.

Unknown to her, the base _was_ abandoned, as the snake sanin liked to rotate his small experimental bases so that too many people wouldn't vanish in a row in the same location.

An hour after she left a sound genin entered the base and came out fifteen minutes later completely confused.

* * *

A month later she was outside a small village. During her trip she found out she could do some odd things by experimenting with an odd power that she had obtained because of the experiment. She had made her cloak unable to be removed unless she was the one doing it, and made the hood cover her face in perpetual shadow. Also during the trip she had obtained some fine pelts from the animals she had killed for food, and decided to keep them to sell. Near the village she decided to sell her pelts there, so she walked in. The villagers shied away from her as she came off as slightly creepy wearing a fairly ratty black cloak with hood. The girl walked to the general store, went in, and waled up to the counter.

"I would like to sell these pelts," the girl said quietly with a nearly imperceptible hiss to her 's's, and set some wolf, fox, and a bear pelt on the counter.

The man looked at the pelts, and noticing there quality, quoted a good, and fair price.

The girl nodded her agreement, and set some stuff she wished to purchase on the counter, "I would like to purchase these as well."

The man looked at what the girl had put on the counter, they consisted of some clothes, some canned goods, a small sewing kit, and a small package of candy. "Very well, Here is the remainder of the money for the pelts, and if you obtain more I will be more than willing to buy them off of you."

The girl nodded as she took the money and pocketed it, and using a bag made by tying off the cloth she had cut from her cloak, began to leave the store, but was stopped when the storekeeper asked, "Whats your name?"

After a moments hesitation she responded in her soft voice, "My name is, Kaida Koneko ." Before leaving the shop.

Eating a candy from the bad on her way out of the village to set up a place to stay caused her to gag. The candy, which was once her favorite, now tasted disgusting. She passed a child on her way out and dropped the bag of candy in the child's hands after saying, "Here." before walking out of the village.

End prologue.


	2. Chapter 1: Two Paths Cross

The Dragon's Path

Chapter 1: Two Paths Cross

Three years later in Konohagakure a triplet of genin, and a jonin were standing in front of the Hokage. "I have a C-Ranked mission for you four," the old man said. "The mission is to track down the source of the high quality furs that the client has been purchasing from a village a few days away from here. He wants you to talk to the trapper, and try to convince him to sell to the client directly. You are _not_ authorized by neither me, nor the client to use force, since it would stop the flow of the product," he finished.

"Sounds dull," Sasuke said to the agreement of his team

" Well, if you think that way we have a certain cat that needs catching..." Sarutobi said smugly.

"Well lets go, we have a trapper to find," Naruto said as he dashed out the door.

His teammates looked at each other and, with a sigh, nodded and assented, as they _really_ didn't want to chase the cat again. The three remaining ninja were about to leave when the orange bundle of energy that had just left came back in with a sheepish look on his face.

"I forgot to ask when are we leaving?" He asked.

Kakashi sighed at the over exuberance of the orange clad ninja, and responded, "Nine o'clock tomorrow at the west gate."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei," the blond said before running back out the door.

"Troublesome," Sasuke muttered as he left.

"Sasuke, want to go on a date tonight?" said the pink haired Sakura as she chased after her crush.

The gray haired jonin shook his head as he to took his leave, all the while wondering _why_ he agreed to take a genin team like this.

* * *

The next day dawned, although nobody saw it happen through the steel gray clouds that covered the sky. It was also past ten, which was the reason that three genin had irate expressions while waiting at the west gate of their village.

Then, in a swirl of leaves, the perpetually late ninja appeared, he had a serious expression on his face as he explained, "Sorry, the Hokage gave me a submission that I'm to complete while you three try to convince the trapper, although if at any time you think you wouldn't be able to handle it, stop and wait for me at the village inn, I'll be there every evening to here your reports."

The three genin's expressions turned from angry to more neutral ones, as this time he had a plausible excuse. The four took a final check of equipment before heading out to the mission site.

* * *

Two days later Kaida, was beginning to show signs of uneasiness. The type of uneasiness that some people feel before a great change in their life. She had just gathered up her daily fur harvest, all of which were left over from her meals, for her trip to town.

The past three years had been kind to her, physically at least. Her strength, speed, and endurance had increased at a rapid rate. She had also developed some hand to hand techniques so that she might defend herself. Her body had also begun to develop, she looked like she was going to grow into a nice trim figure, cute but not one of the overly busty beauties. Her magic had grown quickly as well, her natural talent for it, which was a result of the DNA grafting procedure, allowed her to develop quite a few enchantments, offensive spells, and defensive spells.

Mentally growth was a different story however. She had developed a severe case of depression, and a growing dislike, which was beginning to boarder on hatred, for the "humans."

This blooming hatred came from the fact that some humans had seen her without her cloak, and had immediately attacked her, and tried to "destroy the demon." After the tenth time it happened she had worked out a waterproofing enchantment for her cloak, and started wearing it even while bathing, as that's where she was mostly caught.

With her cloak, which she had replaced as she grew older and larger, had the same enchantments she had puzzled out quickly three years ago when she first escaped from the lab. She walked into the village only to find that the trade caravan that had arrived yesterday was still there. This was unusual, as they tend to only stay a day at this particular small village. Today her depression was worse than normal, as she was attacked _yet again, _and she was seriously considering an idea that she had dismissed when it came up a few other times. She arrived at the shop that she normally trades at, and went inside. She quickly traded her furs for her normal supplies and money. She used the rest of the money, as well as some of her rather large stockpile, to purchase a sharp well made dagger, as well as it's sheath.

On her way out of the store she ran into a black haired boy wearing a headband with the leaf symbol on it, whom was the same age as her. They ended up knocking each other down with her hood opening in front of his face.

"Watch it," The girl said as she regained her feet.

"Watch it yourself," The boy said then paused her voice, while odd sounding made him think. It wasn't that he had ever heard it, it was something else, it made him interested, as well as the rather odd feeling of her body pressed against his before she got up. Her curves had give in the right places, but at the same time it was rather hard, as if she had scale armor on (aka the erroneous name of scale mail.) he shook his head and said, "Sorry, been having a bad day. My name is Sasuke Uchiha may I ask your name?"

"No," Kaida briskly said as she walked away, 'knowing' that if he knew what a 'freak' she really was, that he'd act the same as the others.

Sasuke shrugged, and even though he was even more intrigued by the mysterious girl, as she _wasn't _throwing herself at him like a useless fangirl, and his trained instincts told him that she was dangerous, he entered the store.

The proprietor looked up and cheerfully said, "Ah, what can I do for you? It's unusual to see a leaf nin here during peace time, and even during war time we tend to be left alone."

"I'm looking for a trapper around here, who has been selling furs," the Uchiha said calmly.

The balding proprietor's eyes darkened and he lost much of his cheer. "Now why would you be looking for the trapper?"

"A mission, that's all I can say, besides we don't mean him harm," Sasuke said as he noticed the shift in attitude.

"Well, the local trapper is a fairly privet person, whom only comes into town to sell the furs. I can ask the next time weather or not the trapper is willing to meet you," the proprietor said as some of his joviality returned.

"Thank you, when should I return for an answer?"

"Tomorrow around two pm should be fine."

Sasuke started to walk out the door but paused before he left with an odd look on his face. He turned back and asked, "Who was that girl who was here just before I came in? The one with the cloak."

"Kaida Koneko," the answer came softly.

The leaf nin nodded and left. He also started asking around for information on both the trapper and girl he met. Few people there seemed to know that there was a trapper living near the village, and the few that did, weren't talking much. As for his information gathering on her, he had slightly more success he fond that she hated sweets, was a privet person whom always seemed to be brooding, lived by herself, and that she lived outside of town. One conversation in particular stuck with him though.

"Hello, do you know anything about the local trapper? Or a girl named Kaida?" Sasuke asked an old woman tiredly. _This is the last person I ask today_, he thought tiredly.

"Hmm trapper... nope no clue, but why are you interested in little Kaida?" the old woman replied.

Sasuke blushed a little, although he really had no clue as to why he had so much interest in a girl whom he had never even saw her face.

"Hmm, I see," the old woman cackled. "Well if your interested in her like that, you should go for it, that poor girl has been alone as long as I have known her, and she actively pushes people away, your going to have a hard time of it child, but if your serious about liking her don't give up."

Sasuke sighed in defeat for the day to meet up with the rest of his team.

The old woman's face went grim as she watched him leave. "I wonder what he will think when he finds out that both of the people that he's seeking is one and the same, or when he discovers her secret," she said contemplatively. "I hope he can accept her." She said as she departed for her home to prepare a meal for her family.

* * *

The next day dawned clear and cool, and after hunting for her morning meal, which ended up being a fox that she killed by catching it and breaking its neck. As she cooked, adding in some of the spices and vegetables to the fox stew, the sense that something was going to change was stronger than ever. After eating she finished cleaning up the fox skin and that of the raccoon she killed the night before. She took her skins set them aside and started meditating to access her magic. She was currently trying to work on a few illusion magics. She hopes to be able to take a bath without her cloak by making everyone _see _her as a normal human. After several hours she had some illusions down, but not the one she wanted.

After fishing for lunch using her bandage covered hands she quickly impaled them on sticks and cooked them on her fire. After lunch she headed over to the village like normal, and noticed that the trade caravan was _still_ there. As soon as she stepped in the village she noticed the hostility being directed at her. She almost made to the shop in the oppressive atmosphere, when she saw the owner looking at her with a scowl, almost like he was going to attack her. With tears in her eyes she dropped her load and ran out of the village. On her way out she hid behind one of the caravan wagons and over heard a conversation starting. Looking around the corner she saw one of the respected members of the community talking to the caravan leader.

"Good job on convincing the village that she had already signed the contract, now that the village has turned against her it should be easy to convince her to sell only to me," the caravan master said with a chuckle.

"She's too spooky for me to feel comfortable with her around, so I'm glad to help get rid of her. Now about my pay?" the respected man said.

"Here take it, now all I have to do is wait for those ninja to finish their job," came the reply, as well as a fair stack of ryo notes.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the village shop the owner was looking at the furs that were thrown down when one of his best customers ran from the village. He then realized his mistake, he had assumed the rumor was correct because of the alleged witness, when he had evidence to the contrary sitting on his counter. He locked up his shop, with a note for the young ninja that he'd be back, and went off in search of the witness. He found him just as the witness left the caravan. With a snarl he went back to the village to try to reverse the damage. After talking with the butcher, baker, and other shop keepers and explaining about what he saw he quickly gained their support in spreading the truth.

As he returned to the shop he saw the young ninja waiting, and with a sigh he explained the mess that prevented the trapper from coming in.

"Sigh, have you seen Kaida today at least?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I doubt she will come in, but if you want to look for her she lives in the forest, and if you see her, tell her I'm sorry will you?"

The black haired nin nodded and set off for the forest, and as he arrived he noticed a distinct lack of traps. He walked along till he saw a small cliff overlooking the nearby village with a great view of the setting sun. On the cliff was Kaida, and had an extremely depressed aura about her. She then took out a dagger, and positioned it right above her heart. Sasuke was about to run in and prevent it when a bundle of energy wrapped in orange screamed "NO!" and ran into her, knocking the dagger out of her grasp.

"What's your Problem?" the boy asked looking at the darkly covered form in front of him angrily.

"Want to know what my problem is? Fine," Kaida said angrily and tore off her cloak as well as the bandages on her hands. She then deployed her wings and showed that she had changed more after the time in Orochimaru's Lab since she now had a reptilian tail. Her clothing was a black backless, sleeveless top, and a pair of short shorts with a pleated hole for the tail when she fully changes. "This is my problem, some asshole name Orochimaru turned me into a freak, I'm hunted whenever I'm seen like this, nobody can accept a freak like me. Even the village has turned against me, and they never even saw my real face," she finished before breaking down and crying.

"That's not true, I..." Naruto started.

"Prove it, take my hand," she said as she put her clawed hand out.

Naruto looked at the hand and took a step back which caused her to drop hers.

"My point, humans can't look beyond a persons form," she said before taking the dagger, cloak, and bandages and, using her wings, flew off.

Sasuke on the other hand was shocked nearly speechless at the sight, with a single word escaping his lips, "beautiful."

* * *

The next day saw the ninja's hunting in the forest for any sign of the trapper, but had yet to find a single trap, or evidence of hunting. That was until they found the remains of a campfire with the burnt remains of an animal's pelt in it. The search continued until an hour before sunset. Then, since searching during the dark hours would be more fruitless than during the day decided to try tomorrow.

Sasuke, walked to the cliff that he last saw the dragon-girl, and much to his surprise she was there again looking at the sunset. She once again took out the dagger, and placed it to her breast, and once again it was knocked out of her hand.

She looked at the black haired boy in front of her and asked venomously, "What do you want? Come to make my life worse? I know that you were there yesterday, now...oomph."

Sasuke, didn't take her hand, didn't deride her, nor did he attack her instead he stopped her rant... by pulling her up and into a hug of genuine caring. The feelings in the hug reached her and she started crying onto his shoulder, while returning his hug, hard. "Kaida... can't... breath..." he wheezed out as it felt like she was in a vise.

"Sorry," she said as she loosened her hug.

"It's okay, but I have a question, will you come to our village with me?" He asked and upon seeing her nervousness added, "I could always use a girlfriend."

She looked at him and nodded once.

Sasuke asked, "Can you promise me that you won't try to kill yourself again?"

Kaida hesitated and said just loud enough for him to hear, "I swear I will not as long as you ether want me, or need me around."

Sasuke nodded, and asked his final question, "Do you know who was providing the furs to the shops?"

"I was, but I'm not going to sell anymore, not to anybody," she said as she picked up and resheathed her dagger.

"Why?"

"Because it was the greed of the one whom hired you that pushed me to try and kill myself, he turned the village against me," she explained.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, he _had_ noticed that the mood in the village toward the dragon-girl had changed nearly overnight, and coupled with the unusual length of time the caravan had been there supported her claim.

"Well I need to pack, I'll set up camp here until your team leaves," she said as she stood up and started to walk away.

"Oh, the shop keeper asked me to tell you he was sorry."

Kaida looked back and softly said, "Too late." and left the area.

* * *

Sasuke was soon back to the inn he was staying at, and sat at the table that the other three were at.

"I found the trapper, as well as someone I invited back to the village," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

The argument between his other teammates stopped as they looked at him. "What!" Naruto exclaimed. "You kept looking after we quit?"

Sakura was cheering with stars in her eyes and saying how great her crush was.

"No. I found the person my accident, and was told that due to our clients actions the person has gotten out of the fur trade and is leaving the area," Sasuke explained.

Kakashi sighed and said, "I found out the person was planning on attacking us if we had succeed anyway, but are you sure this person is safe to bring to the village? Also we are leaving tomorrow."

"Yes, she is also the enemy of one of our missing nin, Orochimaru," the Uchiha explained.

Kakashi smiled at the comment and replied, "Funny, I was ordered to find an escaped experiment of his and offer him or her sanctuary in the village."

"So there's no problem with her coming then?" Sasuke said as it clicked for Naruto whom Sasuke was talking about. Naruto looked at the Uchiha with increased respect.

"We can get her when we leave tomorrow, I know where she'll be," Sasuke said.

" Ha I'll prove to that hussy that Sasuke is _mine_," Sakura crowed much to the black haired boy's irritation.

* * *

The next day found the four on the cliff at noon, when they were supposed to meet at nine, and get there at ten. What they found was a cloaked figure, around a cheery campfire, eating a soup consisting of rabbit, and wild herbs. Inside the fire the two rabbit skins were being destroyed.

"Mission's finished Sasuke? You and your friends are welcome to join me for lunch before we leave," Kaida said calmly.

"Thanks," the named boy said as he took out a bowl from the pile of clean ones on the ground and ladled a serving for himself. He nodded in appreciation of the taste.

Sakura harrumphed at how familiar the girl was being with _her_ Sasuke and refused to take any.

Kakashi, seeing how Sasuke was fine eating it, and that the cloaked girl was eating from the same pot, took a serving for himself, and enjoyed the taste.

Naruto took some nervously and began eating while watching the girl who said, "Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you for how you acted a few days ago."

Sakura's stomach started growling as the other four took another serving each, and gave in, grabbed a bowl, and tried to ladle out a serving, only to find the pot empty.

"As soon as everyone's finished I'll clean the dishes, and we can be on our way," Kaida said calmly.

"I'll help," Sasuke said and gathered up everybody's bowls.

"Thanks, there's a stream this way, follow me." the dragon blooded girl said. And led the way. Ten minutes later they were back with clean dishes, which were quickly stored in a ratty, crude black sack.

"Now that everyone's ready, we should get going," Kakashi said calmly.

With various marks of assent the three left the village to return to Konohagakure.

End Chapter 1


	3. Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

The Dragon's Path

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home.

AN: This will be the last chapter until this story acquires more support.

AN2: Small explanation of Kaida's projected abilities. First she will be unable to use anything but kenjitsu and taijitsu. This is compensated for by her using magic based off rules I'm creating which will closely resemble an MP system spells will be borrowed from various sources or made up.

* * *

The trip back to Konohagakure was punctuated by the pink haired girl sniping the dragon blooded one with insults, and saying that Sasuke was her boyfriend. This continued up to the point where the four shinobi and guest set up camp halfway home, and since they where in friendly territory, retrieved their camping gear from the storage scrolls they were stored in. As the three genin set up the tents, Kakashi thought about the report he had to make when he got back. On one hand the primary mission was a failure, as the trapper refused to work with the client, but on the other hand the hidden objective that was given to him was a success, and it was the unfriendliest member of the team that befriended the girl, while she flinched away from the one that he normally considered the friendliest.

His eyes widened as he realized that he had forgotten to pack a tent in case he found the target. This left three tents for five people, and considering that Koneko flinches around, and avoids as much as possible, most of the team...

Shaking his head he spoke up, "Wait a minute, I need to make a modification to the sleeping arrangements..."

"I'm fine outside," Kaida interrupted quietly.

"I'm sorry, but since it looks like it will rain, and your going to be our guest in our village, I insist. Now Sakura will sleep alone, and Sasuke, I'm trusting you to have hands off the guest, as your the only one she can feel comfortable being around, you will be sharing the tent. Hands to yourself. Naruto your with me, Sakura your alone," the jonin responded.

"Why does _she_ get to stay in Sasuke's tent? Why can't I?" Sakura complained.

"Simple, if you had been nice I would've put you with her, and avoided putting her with a male in the same tent, but considering how traumatized she already seems to be, and you just making it worse... well it seems like a bad idea. As to why I didn't put you in with him, I trust her more than you not to try something," Kakashi said seriously.

"But..." Sakura began.

"End of discussion," the masked man said.

"Sakura," Sasuke said.

"Yes Sasuke?" she responded with hearts in her eyes.

"You are not, and never will be my girlfriend. Kakashi-sensei If it's alright with you, I'll take first watch," the heir to the Uchiha clan said, completely ignoring how his words made Sakura freeze up, and missing the hopeful gleam in the dragon girl's eyes, which was completely forgivable since her face was shadowed by her ever present hood. At his teachers nod he found a high branch that overlooked the camp, and Settled in.

Kaida looked up at him, shook her head, and prepared for bed. As she climbed into the tent, and lied down she started drifting off to sleep, her final thought was, _I hope this wasn't a mistake._

During the early morning, it was the last of four shifts. It had fallen to Sakura. She was cold and miserable since the rain had started shortly after her shift began. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings though, instead she was glaring at the tent that contained Kaida and Sasuke. All the while thinking, _That should be __**me!**__ Everything was going fine, and I was making progress with making him mine, then that __**bitch**__ just waltzes in and makes him say that to me. 'You are not, and never will be my girlfriend,' indeed. I'll show him that I'm the best choice for a future wife. Not Ino, and certainly not that creepy bitch! _She started fingering a kuni while glaring at the tent, based off where Koneko settled down she could put one through the side of the tent quickly and easily.

Just then a voice sounds from behind her, "You know, being on watch means looking for threats _not_ looking at your crushes tent."

Startled she turned around quickly, only to slip on the wet branch with a yelp the kuni she was fingering falling point down into the muddy ground. A hand caught her before she fell too far, and upon looking up she saw her sensei's face.

"This will go on your performance review," Kakashi said. "Now tell me why your being cruel toward her."

Sakura's face twisted into a slight sneer as she responded, "She drove him away from me."

"That explains now, but what about on the way to our campsite?"

"She's too close to him, I noticed it almost immediately, how he tended to talk to her easier than most, how he actually smiled at her, and that creepy cloak. I don't trust her," she responded venomously.

"Too bad, part of our mission was to find her, and try to convince her to come back. You are not allowed to attack her. You know, there is one other reason I put him with her," the jonin responded without a trace of humor in his voice. At her puzzled glance he continued, "because, I think she might have run if she woke up alone or with someone she doesn't trust." he was about to hop down and return to his tent when, in a possibly futile attempt to curb hostilities he said, "do you actually care about the happiness of the one you profess to love?"

Before she could respond he jumped off the branch and want back to his tent.

_Of course I do, as he will be very happy when he marries me,_ she thought as the uneventful hours of her shift pass, but even with the absolute certainty of her being right,a nagging doubt remained. _Am I sure of that, or is it wishful thinking?_

The second one up in the morning, since Sakura had the last watch, so was technically the first up, was not Kakashi, it was Kaida. She slipped out of the camp quietly, only leaving a note behind with the words, 'Gone hunting.' twenty-three minutes and thirteen seconds later Kakashi and Naruto emerge just in time to see Kaida coming back with a pair of rabbits. She quickly skinned and gutted them, and taking a large pot from her black bag proceeded to dice the rabbit meat into it, and adding in the last of her vegetables and spices. Taking a small trip with a second pot to a nearby stream she returned with water which she quickly added to the pot. During this Kakashi quickly figured out what was going on, and started a fire by arranging the wood and using a small fire jitsu on it.

"Thank you," the lab project said softly as she set up the frame she used to keep the pot over the fire, and placed the pot on it to simmer.

Sasuke, not having had the benefit of sleeping with the jonin instructor, and his tent mate having quietly left stumbled out of his tent five point seven nine six minutes later as the smells from the cooking stew start to permeate the air. Sakura on the other hand was exorcising all of her will into thinking it was a disgusting smell.

About half an hour later, the stew was being devoured by four people, while the fifth was eating travel rations.

"Kaida," Naruto began. "I'm sorry about how I acted before, I was just surprised, for what it's worth, your rather pretty under that cloak." Naruto paused and looked at his male team mate who was cracking his knuckles. "Take care of him will ya?" he finished softly with a smile.

She nods in response then goes to sit by the Uchiha, and flinched under Sakura's glare. Soon breakfast was finished, the dishes washed and packed, and the camping supplies resealed. The three set off again, and the journey was relatively uneventful, if tense. Soon enough the five entered the village, and made there way to the Hokage's office.

The old man looked at the five in front of him after he read the mission report that Kakashi had written up the night before. "So, you return with two successful missions, you found the trapper, and tried to convince him to sell directly, which was all that the contract required, and you found Orochimaru's victim and convinced her to return. Why don't you introduce yourself?" he said gently.

"My name is Kaida Koneko," She responded in a soft nervous voice.

"I had no idea of the secondary mission when I invited her," Sasuke said.

Sarutobi raised his hat so he could look the boy in his eyes before he asked, "Why _did_ you invite her then? And Kakashi, why didn't you tell your genin?"

"I didn't tell them, because I figured a partial division of resources was required, and telling them would've split their focus," Kakashi explained calmly.

"I invited her for one reason," Sasuke said, and after the leader of the ninja village motioned him to continue, "to be my girlfriend, and most likely later, my wife."

Sarutobi was about to respond when a feminine shriek of rage came from the pink haired kinoichi whom grabbed a kuni and tried to stab the cloaked figure. The blade easily passes through the cloth of the cloak but stops as it hits something hard. The next thing Sakura knew was that she was restrained by her sensei, and Kaida was holding where the kuni had hit it while mumbling. When she removed her hand there was no evidence that the cloak had been damaged.

"Sakura, you just broke the rules in two ways. First, you attacked a civilian, which is cause for immediate termination of your career and the sealing of your chakra. Second you attacked a guest, which can be punishable by death. What do you have to say for yourself?" The old man said tiredly.

"_**That bitch stole him, he was supposed to be mine! She probably used some genjitsu on him to make him fall for her. I won't allow it, the only one that will marry him is me!**_ " she screams venomously.

A chuckle from the dragon girl catches their attention, before she spoke, "Me do something like that? I only met him in passing once before he stopped me from killing myself, and I had no idea at the time of who he was."

"_**Lier!**_ "

"That's** enough!**" the third Hokage bellowed, which had the effect of stopping the argument cold. "Now," he continued in a more normal voice, "Sakura, you will be turned over to anbu for chakra sealing and be discharged from being a ninja. Kaida, you will have to spend time talking to Inochi and Ibiki so that we may ascertain what exactly has been done to you, and weather you have had any hidden commands placed in your psyche. Kakashi, I'm afraid the recommendation you made before you left on this mission will have to be denied, unless you find another teammate in a months time."

Sarutobi motioned to one of his body guards to take the pink haired screaming girl away for punishment before turning to the cloaked one. "Now will you show me your face?"

After a moments hesitation she reached up with a bandaged hand and grabbed her hood. Slowly she removed it, reveling her gray hair and slitted emerald eyes. Not many scales were on her face, just a small ridge on her forehead under her hair line, and down her neck. After making sure the leader of the village saw what he would be accepting in she flipped her hood back up.

The reactions around the room mostly ranged from shock (the people who haven't seen her yet) to admiring (Sasuke).

Motioning to a second anbu the Hokage said, "Take her to Ibiki, and tell him to go very gentle, she is an applicant to the village, and I'm mainly concerned about hidden commands."

"Hey old man, do you think she might do as a third team mate?" Naruto put in, making Sasuke look suspiciously at him, but received a wink in return.

"Perhaps, but she'll need a medical workup as we know nothing about her current condition, we'll do that after Ibiki," he said then turned to the anbu that was leading her to be questioned, "inform Ibiki."

The anbu chunin nodded and escorted her from the room.

* * *

"Dismissed."

End Chapter.

End Note, I always thought that, at least before the chunin exams, Sakura was more interested in Sasuke than being a ninja. If you look at most missions before that point, and even some after, she's worthless as a ninja. Her actions here are my interpretation of what would happen if her 'prize' was taken from her, and he went willingly to another girl.


	4. Chapter 3:Of Interrogations and Reports

The Dragons Path:

Chapter 3: Of Interrogations and Reports

AN: I know I said I wouldn't write more until I got more support, but I can't control where my muse leads, but this story is low priority.

The Interrogation took three days, and during that time Kaida was asked many questions about her, Orochimaru, where she came from originally, what she knew about what was done to her, and what she did after getting away from the lab. The questioning phase would've passed quickly, with Inoichi Yamanaka using his clan techniques to try and access her truthfulness, but this is where the first major snag happened.

* * *

The major snag was this, even though Kaida looked mostly human, she wasn't completely human. So techniques designed to work on the human mind and mindset were only marginally effective at best. Inoichi was able, though great effort, to pick out truth and fiction from the answers, but it left him with a migraine scale headache after a few hours, causing the day long interrogation to last three. Despite the pain he sensed he wasn't being fought by the subject. Ibiki told Inoichi after the question and answer segment that that he would tell the Hokage that it was too dangerous for a deeper scan to be used.

After the interrogation Kaida was waiting in the Hokage's office with her customary hood and cloak to hear her fate.

* * *

The Hokage on the other hand was reading the interesting report in front of him.

The Report:

Interrogation of prospective villager and ninja Kaida:

Day one:

Physical observation and initial impressions:

Subject is sitting at the interrogation table with a glass of water and a nearby pitcher filled with the same. She is wearing an all encompassing black cloak and hood, as well as bandages covering her arms which could be seen as she grabs the glass to take a sip.

After telling her to remove her cloak, which she did with some hesitation I was less surprised than I should have been. With the information I was provided about who had experimented on her my expectations were far worse. Inoichi is commended by how he kept his composure, but I'm worried about how Anko was watching from the other side of the one sided glass might have reacted.

Questioning:

Ran into a delay as Inoichi seemed to be having trouble with his jitsu, he got it working, but the questioning will have to be limited to two or three hour segments to give him time to recover. Subject was truthful in all but a few questions, and refused to tell the truth on those matters, but the questions were of a relatively unimportant matter, and her reasoning for not telling us was fairly sound. I was also instructed to be gentle. Recommendation, earn her trust and she might be more forthcoming with that information.

Will turn her over to medical after each days questioning for full medical workup.

Interrogation Transcript:

* Questions that she refused to answer truthfully

Ibiki: For the record, name?

Kaida: Kaida Koneko.

Ibiki: Age?

Kaida: Twelve.

Ibiki: Occupation?

Kaida:Former hunter and fur trader.

Ibiki: How did you come to be like you are now.

Kaida: I was taken from the orphanage three years ago, kept strapped to the table naked for some time and then injected with something. Then came the pain. Next thing I know I had woken up in the same room unstrapped and without lights, I grabbed some clothes, shortened a cloak I found nearby, then ran.

Ibiki: And then?

Kaida: I walked awhile while hunting, then stopped outside of a town to sell the furs I collected, and gave myself a new name. Stayed there until Sasuke came and brought me here.

Ibiki: New name? What was your old one?

*Kaida: Don't remember.

Ibiki: Why are you lying?

Kaida: Because it's a life I no longer have.

Ibiki: I see. Do you know who your parents were?

*Kaida: No.

Ibiki: How about where you were from before the Orphanage?

*Kaida: No.

Ibiki: Why Wont you answer any questions about before Orochimaru took you?

Kaida: it's part of a life I no longer have and am trying to forget.

Ibiki: I see, then we'll move on. Do you know where Orochimaru is now?

Kaida (Subject shows the first emotion, besides sadness and depression, since the interrogation began, anger.): No, and if I did I would rip out his heart!

Ibiki: er... looks like Inoichi has had all he can stand today, we'll continue tomorrow.

Day Two:

Physical Observations:

She had used the bathtub and water provided, as I could see damp towels, and had forgone her cloak, I believe that she uses the cloak as a shield against those whom might react badly at her appearance, and as we already know, she didn't bother. Note: Have Anko find some clothes for her her current clothes look a bit worn as do the ones in her bag.

Interrogation transcript:

Ibiki: What do you know about what was done to you?

Kaida: Beyond the physical alterations? I'm stronger, faster, harder to hurt, and...

Ibiki: And?

Kaida: I'm developing abilities that I couldn't do before.

Ibiki: Abilities?

Kaida: I'm not sure how to classify them, except perhaps as magic. One allows me to hide some of my more, unique features.

Ibiki: Ah, must be a new bloodline, and jitsu's for it. Now, about these features, show us.

Note: Subject had hesitated at that request, but at my urging, and my word that I wouldn't hold it against her, she made a pair of scaled bat like wings with an ivory claw at the top part, and a reptilian tail.

Ibiki: I see, now to test your strength I want you to arm wrestle me.

Note: The results were shocking to say the least, subject easily matched, then exceeded, my strength. After a few more tests I requested I concluded that her body is powerful and fast.

Ibiki: Ow, first thing remind me not to arm wrestle you again, next you can also put the tail and wings away again if you wish. Now the next question is this, Why did you come here?

Kaida: I think your friend is going to collapse.

Ibiki: Shit, we'll continue this tomorrow.

Day 3:

Physical observations:

Will tell Anko that getting Kaida a carbon copy of her outfits is _not_ appropriate. She looks in good health, so her transformation did not apparently affect her nutritional requirements much, recommend that the doctors check though.

Interrogation Transcript:

Ibiki: About the question I asked yesterday, Why did you come to our village?

Kaida: I was invited, by Sasuke.

Ibiki: And?

Kaida: No other reason really, I was planning on moving anyway, just no specific destination until then.

Ibiki: Why were you going to move?

Kaida: Because, the town had made it plain that they didn't want me there, and 'monster hunters' were becoming uncomfortably common in the area.

Ibiki: Good reasons, now what would be your overriding reason to be a ninja if you became one?

Kaida (without hesitation): To be with Sasuke and understand him better.

Ibiki: do you want to be a ninja?

Kaida: If I could be on the same team as Sasuke, yes. If not, I guess I could try...I do have someone I want to die...

Note: By the venom of how the subject said that, I think she has more in common with Sasuke than we thought, but at this point I don't think she will just rush out and attack him.

Ibiki: That concludes my questioning, I'll pass it on to the Hokage and he'll call for you later.

Conclusions:

Subject seems trustworthy, and willing to answer questions not related to her pretransformed life honestly, I believe that she would be an asset to our village and that she should be teamed with Sasuke, at leastor at first, to help ease her into the role. Emotionally she seems to be a tad fragile, but with support may recover. Her emotional range seems to be mainly depression, fondness for the last loyal Uchia, and anger at Orochimaru. Having her team include Sasuke and another emotionally supportive teammate should help her in this regard.

End Report

* * *

The Hokage looked at the girl sitting across from him, and wondered what her old life was. He then picked up a smaller report from the medics.

* * *

Medic Report Summary:

Subject: Kaida Koneko

Age:12

Blood Type: AB*

Full medical work up requested:

Evidence of heavy genetic modifications present, last change due to them according to subject, two years ago. Analysis indicates that this is correct.

Subject unable to mold chakra, but can mold something similar.

Strength and speed far greater than expected for one without ninja training, low to mid jonin range for strength, and mid chunin for speed.

Scales provide defense better than the best shinobi armor, special needle was needed for a blood sample. Bone density also greater than normal.

No diseases present in bloodwork.*

Subject's overall health aside from genetic manipulation: Excellent

Recommendation: Allow into ninja force, but have her come in for bloodwork every month if possible to make sure genetic modifications are stable.

*Note: Wouldn't recommend transfusion, ether by donating or receiving, unless there is no other option.

End Report

* * *

The Hokage nodded as he finished with the reports. "So Kaida, From the reports you seem to be a relatively honest, except with who you used to be, fairly powerful for your age, intelligent, in some ways mature beyond your years, and in some ways emotionally vulnerable. Most of these are what we look for in our shinobi, and the rest are typical of a new genin. So I have an offer for you, the recommendations of both of the reports say that you would do well in the ninja force, and also considering what Naruto asked before you went with Ibiki, I decided that, if you agree, that you will be given the rank of genin, and placed in team seven to replace Sakura," The old man said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir," the robed girl replied. "I accept."

"One thing I'll be spreading around that you have a keki genki that altered your physical appearance. This is so you can walk around without your cloak. You might want to consider doing so," Sarutobi said.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that, sir, but I'll consider it," the dragon girl said as she started to walk to the door.

"One thing, Anko, who was watching your interrogation expressed interest in giving you a place to stay, and so has Sasuke. I know you might want to be with Sasuke, but considering that their would be no supervision, Anko would be a better choice. I would normally assign you an apartment like Naruto, but since you are new..." The old man started before she could leave.

"It would be better to be with somebody right? *sigh* So when do I meet her?"

"How about now?" a new voice asked.

A Twenty four year old woman came In through the window behind the Hokage's desk. She was wearing a tan overcoat tan shorts and beneath it is a mesh bodysuit that extends from neck to mid thigh.

"Hey kiddo, I'm Anko. Come with me please. I'll show you where you'll be living."

Kaida tried to shirk away, but the special jonin wouldn't have it, she simply placed an arm around the young science experiment and led her out the door. All the while trying unsuccessfully to remove the hood.

"I hope this wasn't a mistake," Sarutobi said quietly to himself after they had left.

* * *

On the way to Anko's apartment Kaida said one word, "Why?"

Anko stopped and looked at her, "Why what?"

"Why did you to house want a freak like me?"

"I know what it's like to be one of _his_ experiments, and there are at least five people who don't consider you a 'freak.' Me, Ibiki, Inoichi, the Hokage, and Sasuke. Others might be nervous at first but just because it might be startling, but with the Hokage's cover story less people will think that. Just give it time," the skimpily dressed kinoichi said soothingly. "Now, we need to get you outa that cloak."

Koneko let herself be lead away, and thought about the words her new housemate had said, and with a shaking hand slipped the hood down reveling her hair and face.

"Well, it's a start. Now first lets get you settled in I have a spare room that I stocked last night with a futon and some clothes, I also moved your bag in there. We will need to shop for some more stuff for you, but for now it should do," the purple haired woman said.

"Eeep!" a girl with an oversized coat, cobalt colored pupilless eyes and bulging veins around them squeaked before running away.

"You were saying?" Koneko said in a depressed voice, before hiding in her hood again.

"Let's stop here first," Anko said as a way of distracting her new charge, as they passed in front of the village weapon shop. "We need to get you some equipment anyway." They entered, and Anko said, "Take your pick, just remember you have to carry it, I'll get the basics as I already know what you will need, but pick yourself out something special."

Kaida browsed the weapons looking for something that appealed to her. She wasn't that drawn to the swords, chain weapons, or most of the other weapons available. Anko, who had waited through forty minutes was about to call her that it wasn't necessary to choose now, when Kaida reached into a shadowy corner, and pulled out, from it's dusty cobwebby hiding place, a battle scythe. The scythe was as black as night with a silver engraving on each side. One side had Fears End, and the other had Death's Judgment. Taking it to the place set aside to test weapons out she swung it a few times to get the feel of it, and even though she never really used a weapon before it felt... right.

"Anko, will this be okay?" Kaida asked hesitantly.

Anko looked at the weapon and nodded. She then motioned Kaida to bring it up to the counter where the man paled at seeing the robed figure wielding a scythe, until he recognized it as one he had made long ago for a customer whom never lived to claim it. "That will be five thousand ryo. You get a discount for taking that thing off my hands," he said pointing to the scythe. "I made it for a customer whom died on a mission before he could claim it, and nobody else seemed to want it. It was a beautiful piece so I couldn't bring myself to destroy it."

"This Inscription..." Kaida started.

"The full inscription means, 'Fears End with Death's Judgment,'" the man stated.

"I see..." the cloaked girl said as she fastened the accompanying harness on her back and put the scythe in it.

After the equipment was paid for the two stopped at Ichiraku's Ramen to eat. Kaida had been convinced to lower her hood again after she set a group of kids running in fear. The meal passed quickly and in relative silence, until the girl whom had run away earlier came up to them.

"I'm sorry about earlier today, you just startled me as I was using my Byakugan during a training exercise, and what I saw startled me," Hinata said nervously.

"It's okay, not used to seeing a freak like me... right?" Kaida said falling into her, by now, habitual depression.

"No, I think we could be good friends, its not your fault your keki genki does that to you. My name is Hinata Hyuga, I'm in team eight," Hinata stuttered out.

"Thank you, I'm Kaida Koneko team seven," Kaida said softly.

"See It's not so bad, they just need to get used to you," Anko said. "At least your starting from a clean slate, not in the negatives like myself."

"Oh?" Kaida said curiously.

"Not telling, your not the only one with secrets."

Kaida nodded and dropped the subject. Soon they paid and left, and Anko brought Kaida to her new home, and the tired dragon girl went to bed immediately, asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	5. Apologies

Notice:

This fic is dead due to the complete apathy people seem to have towards it (hint: combine the HITS of ant two chapters of this story, and they add up to less than a chapter posted YESTERDAY!) if this situation changes, and it gets up there with my other stories this story WILL be continued. I apologize to those few who have read and enjoyed this fic.


End file.
